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Tobias
Skills Tobias is a morpher, able to change forms due to his contact with a piece of advanced alien technology called the Morphing Cube that was created by the Andalites. This allows him to absorb the DNA of any living creature he touches and concentrates on, and then become it for a period not longer than two hours. As it is based on the creature's DNA congenital defects and coloration would be present in the morph- however, injuries would not, and switching morphs does allow for healing. Morphing does take at least a couple of minutes to accomplish though and it is not a particularly smooth or pretty process. Due to an 'accident' not long after he received these powers his natural form is not human, as he was born, but a red-tailed hawk whose form he was stuck in after passing the two hour limit. Regaining the morphing ability allows him to absorb and switch forms once again, but he must return to his hawk form in order to do so. He was also able to gain a morph of his human body but should he stay in it, or any other form, longer than two hours he would be stuck in that body instead and once again lose his ability to morph. While on Earth he had more than twenty morphs he was capable of coming to Pandora has stripped him of all but five. He retains his ability to absorb new DNA, a process which puts the creature into a trance only for the duration of the touch and about ten seconds afterward. While in an animal morph he retails the animal's instincts but not their memories, and must choose to direct or trust the animal's reactions. While in any form not human or otherwise able to speak the morpher can use thought-speak, a directed form of telepathy that is distance-sensitive, usually not able to reach more than a mile. Morphs- Human-'' A human version of himself, mostly used to allow him to get around in society. Due to so long as a hawk he is uncomfortable in this body and often forgets to emote facial expressions. ''Hork-Bajir-'' An eight foot tall reptilian creature with long, flexible limbs and neck, and a beaked face. Thick, strong blades grow at the elbows, knees, fingers and toes and it is both fast and flexible in combat. ''Polar Bear-'' Large, strong and durable, this body is large and formidable in a fight, but easily overheats in any weather that isn't near or below freezing. ''Dolphin-'' Aquatic mammal, strong, fast, intelligent and playful. Can swim for hours and hold its breath underwater for some time, but does breathe air and has to return to the surface to breathe. ''Raccoon-'' Small, agile and fiercer than it looks with a powerful sense of smell. However it isn't strong is and is considered prey by some larger animals and a pest by humans. As his morphing in genetically based and he does not recall the skills it or they possess, or how to control them, gaining only the instincts of the base creature. Should he morph one with extraordinary abilities he would be required to learn the mastery of them, such as with mutant or inherent abilities. Therefore if the ability is not coded into the creature's DNA, such as magic or a trained skill (spells, fighting ability, etc.) they would be unusable. In retrospect, should the morph possess strong instincts or a trait that has taken time to control, he would have to fight to gain that control and could very well get lost in the morph or lose control of some aspect of it, harming himself or others. In his ordinary form he is a red tailed hawk, highly agile and with excellent vision, but he possesses the hawk's fragile bones, small size and limited strength. As far as his mind, he is an intelligent fifteen year old who is well-read but otherwise possesses no extraordinary powers. Personality Before any of this mess with the aliens and the stress of saving the world started Tobias was a shy, sensitive, quiet, thoughtful boy who was interested in art and had an optimistic and dreamy outlook on the world. His home life, bounced between relatives on opposite coasts, made him a bit distant from his family and he didn't make many connections with others, so he tended to live in his own head more and more, losing more and more connection with reality. This made him the 'weird kid' in school and a target for bullies. The only people he considered his friends were those who on occasion tried to protect him and he tended to cling to them just to avoid being alone. There have been a few changes in him since that night at the construction site though, and even more since he was stuck in his hawk form. He has learned hidden depths to himself, from his fight to survival to his tendency toward escapism when things get too hard for him to bear but his idealism has been slow to falter. He still believes in honor and doing what's right though he has come to accept the fact that it might make his goals harder to reach. The only time he tends to set his honor aside is in defense of others and that is the only greatest good he will often consider. In the end though he would rather sacrifice himself than anyone else and this can make him a bit brooding. Appearance Tobias is a red-tailed hawk ''nothlit, male, and of average size and weight for his species. He weighs about three pounds, has a wingspan of 54 inches, and is about 23 inches long from head to tail. His beak is long and hooked, his feet end in talons and even though his mind is human there is no way to tell in looking at him that he is anything other than a hawk, though perhaps one with strange habits. His human form, when he chooses to wear it, is a bit more noteworthy. The first thing people generally notice are his dreamy blue-green eyes that seem kind if a bit distant, but otherwise his features are handsome but not mind-blowingly so. He stands at about five foot eleven, is a healthy weight but not really in shape and his hair is almost naturally messy and hangs around his ears. When in other morphs he resembles the exact creature he obtained the DNA from. Relationships History Tobias's origins are, to him, a complete blank as no one has ever cared enough to tell him a thing. Though he isn't quite aware of his his mother's name is Loren and she lives not far from where he did while he lived with his uncle. His father was Elfangor an alien from a species called the Andelites who, after a series of events, ended up as a human nothlit and married his mother, who he had met while on his mission. Shortly after Tobias was conceived a powerful being known as the Ellimist took Elfangor back to the point in space-time he was meant to be from, leaving Loren's memory wiped and Tobias still waiting to be born. Shortly after he was born his mother suffered amnesia and was stricken blind. Unable to care for the infant Tobias she handed him over to her brother and sister to raise him, but neither cared for the child with his odd habits and he spent his life being passed between them back and forth like a burden. He was never given the chance to settle in anywhere and felt very disconnected from reality with no real family or friend to lean on. This gave him an independent nature, but he was still a very lonely boy. When he was thirteen he finally moved back in with his uncle once more and started attending the middle school there, where her met Jake and Rachel. After Jake defended him from some bullies who were trying to shove his head in a toilet Tobias considered him a friend and the lovely Rachel was an acquaintance and secret crush, but things seemed to be going the same as always. Then they took the shortcut through the abandoned construction site near the mall one night and everything changed. After witnessing the crash of a spaceship the five children- Jake, Marco, Rachel, Cassie and Tobias- met the alien Elfangor who was dying from his wounds. With no time to spare and not wishing to leave the Earth defenseless he gave the children the power to morph. As the enemy Yeerk ship came down the other children ran but Tobias stayed behind, and Elfangor bestowed on him the information he hadn't been able to give the others- the truth of how to morph. Tobias then ran as well and the children all watched Visser Three finish Elfangor off. Though they were discovered the children managed to get away and returned home, but Tobias couldn't let it rest. With his new-found power he acquired the morph of his cat Dude and turned into him, learning in the process that many creatures can't tolerate the copy of their clone. After he changed back he went to Jake's house to convince his friend that this was a reality and that they needed to fight. While he did managed to get Jake to morph and accept the power he could not convince him to fight without discussing it with the others. The feelings were mixed, but finally it was decided that they would wait and watch. It was during this time that Tobias acquired the morph of a red-tailed hawk and began to use it, often forgetting to note the time and sometimes seeming not to care if he ever returned to being human. Once the others had made up their minds they went into the Yeerk pool, a place where the slug-like Yeerks lived. The enemy aliens slipped into the ear and controlled the mind of their host, but every three days had to return to the pool. When Cassie was captured and about to be infested the others infiltrated and fought to free her. Tobias, who had been in his hawk form the longest, was trapped inside. By the time he came out the two hour mark had passed and he was stuck in his hawk body forever. There were many other missions that the Animorphs went on after that, Tobias acting as their eyes in the sky and often their transport if they were in the form of smaller animals while fighting to keep his humanity in the midst of his hawk body and instincts. Along the way they rescued another Andalite, this one named Aximili, from a spaceship that had crashed into the ocean, and he and Tobias became best friends. He and Rachel grew closer as well, and finally ended up dating, insomuch as a hawk and a human girl could. When they rescued the free Hork-Bajir Tobias was approached himself by the Ellimist and offered the chance to morph again, which he accepted- though rather than returning him to his human body, he was instead given the skill to morph with the hawk body as his regular form. IN an act of mercy the Ellimist gave him the chance to go back in time and absorb a morph of himself from the night before he became an Animorph, giving him the option to take his human form for no more than two hours at a time- or to be human and never morph again. Refusing to give up the fight, he chose the former. For a time it was believed that the traitor seventh Animorph, David, had killed him but Tobias was alive and helped to defeat him. At another time he was captured and tortured by Visser Three's assistant Taylor, who used a special weapon to cause extraordinary pleasure followed by pain to extract the truth of his nature from him, then tricked him and the other Animorphs at a later time into blowing up some of the few peaceful Yeerks that existed. Through it all they continued to fight, and Tobias with them, though it was obvious that the longer this continued the more disillusioned and bitter they would all become. While on a mission to try to contact the Andalite home-world Tobias landed to demorph, only to be grasped by Pandora's dark tentacles. Unable to fight them he was dragged away and so arrived there, confused and distraught, not knowing who he could trust. Now he is seeking answers. Pandora History